Policeman to face murder charges for killing university students

The Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) has preferred murder charges against a police constable for allegedly killing Egerton University students.

Constable Patrick Thuranira is accused of killing Dennis Ongwae and Felix Ngaywa at Globe Cinema roundabout in Nairobi on November 7, 2014.

In a statement, IPOA stated that investigations had revealed that the two students were executed by the police constable based at Central Police Station in Nairobi and attached to the anti-mugging unit.

“Investigators found that the two students had travelled from Egerton University’s Njoro Campus to Nairobi on the day they were killed,” read the statement in part.

“They were accompanied by a friend and had travelled to Nairobi to follow up on their Higher Education Loans Board (HELB) loans at Anniversary Towers.”

The report reveals that the two students decided to visit a relative within Nairobi after finishing up with HELB and were leaving the CBD to a relative’s house in Mathare North at about 9:40pm when the incident occurred.

The constable is said to have been off and was in civilian uniform during the encounter but was armed with a pistol, which he allegedly used to commit the murder.

In its investigations, IPOA revealed that it had established that the two Egerton students were not involved in any mugging as alleged by Constable Thuranira.

“Despite having their national and university identification documents on them when they were shot, the police labeled the two as unidentified in police and mortuary records and failed to disclose to their families the truth about the incident.”

The revelations could open a can of worms in several reported cases of police brutality and extrajudicial killing in the country.

According to a report by the Independent Medico-Legal Unit, an organisation that documents cases of torture and extrajudicial killings, police in Kenya were responsible for 1,252 shooting deaths in five Kenyan cities including Nairobi between 2009 and 2014.

The figures represent 67 per cent of all gun deaths in the areas reviewed with armed robbers responsible for only 260 deaths.

Extrajudicial killings have been a pressing issue with civil society and the opposition at the forefront condemning the act.

It is also in contravention of the National Police Service Act which states that officers “shall always attempt to use non-violent means first” when confronting a suspect.

Even when force is used, the Act dictates that is should be proportional to the seriousness of the offense.”

In its report released in September, Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNHRC) revealed that at least 25 extra judicial killings and 81 forced disappearances were perpetrated by the Kenyan police.

The National Police Service Commission is yet to comment on the matter.